Print.IT Reseller - issue 78

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 01732 759725 30 Roger Stocker, CEO of business intelligence software developer Intuitive, explains how analytics can help MPS providers to differentiate Opportunities in print management printers and ECM solutions, but often they seem to operate in isolation. Print data is really valuable in that it can show you where the opportunities lie – for example, if you look deeper into the reasons why an individual user is printing lots, you often find that there are a lot of manual processes associated with that behaviour; armed with that knowledge, a reseller is able to sell a customer a solution from a position of strength.” The Intuitive dashboards for print management can help dealers add revenue and profit to deals. They are a simple add-on to PaperCut and SafeQ print management software and also help solution providers to initiate discussions around areas for process automation such as accounts payable and HR. Visual representation Intuitive for print management dashboards make it easy to manage the cost of printing, better understand print demand within an organisation, and communicate the environmental impact. They show the latest available usage data for all multifunction devices, providing shorter and more effective decision cycles. The dashboards also show the volume of CO2 produced as well as the paper and electricity consumed by printing, so are ideal for communicating environmental impact to all print users. Intuitive dashboards give an immediate visual representation of data that is generated by the software both from a user and a device perspective. “There are two key reasons why it works in the print industry – the first is that the implementation process is very simple, it can be installed in less than half a day. And the other key thing is that print produces masses of data, almost too much for people to interpret, what we do is take all of that data and organise it, so it’s really easy to understand,” Stocker explained. The dashboards can help to identify areas for cost savings very quickly. “You can analyse user behaviour, identify which departments incur the highest cost per employee, look at printing patterns, how much colour vs. how much black and white; right down to the types of documents being printed by each employee,” he added. “If you analyse data at a device level, you can see which devices are being over- or under-utilised for example, which then allows for the print estate to be reconfigured more efficiently or rationalised to reduce costs. MPS providers can also use the data to highlight issues and focus on where print policies can be reviewed to make cost management more effective.” Global expansion Intuitive formed a relationship with PaperCut two years ago and is working in partnership to make Intuitive dashboards available through PaperCut Authorised Solution Centres globally. These distributors will then supply and support resellers with the pre-integrated business intelligence solution which is delivered with a complete set of standard configurations. Intuitive for PaperCut is a pre- integrated BI solution designed specifically for PaperCut MF. The latest version takes advantage of the new data integration features of the PaperCut 2.0 release. This means that users can launch the print management dashboards from the data integration tab within PaperCut MF, without having to switch applications. Key features include the ability to specify how much historic data you wish to upload into the dashboards. In addition, the information to build the dashboards is retrieved in a standard way, however your version of PaperCut MF is set up, allowing organisations to use different databases and operating systems. The company has also partnered with OEMs including Konica Minolta and Kyocera to resell Intuitive dashboards. Intuitive was the brainchild of two former competitors, Roger Stocker and Tony Bray, who had both sold their respective IT reseller businesses and were looking to do something new. Having recognised the value of analytics, the duo spent 18 months looking to invest in a company, when they realised one didn’t exist, they set up Intuitive with the aim of creating a different type of business intelligence (BI) solution, that would enable partners to differentiate, identify cost savings for their customers and add value. “Our solutions enable partners to differentiate their offerings in what is now a very mature market,” Stocker said. “There are lots of people selling Roger Stocker